"Always practicing, Cleric. Maybe that's why you're the best."

[rtalencar]

Hello everyone,

I suppose my stats would be a good place to start. I'm a dude, 5'10, 275 (down from 315 1-1-12), and a former athlete. I played rugby and lifted in high school and college, and was pretty decent at it. A combination of laziness, partying and indulging to excess, and a demanding work schedule got me to where I'm at today. I'm getting married this June, and aim to not look like a Hutt. I don't have a goal weight in mind as I'd like to keep as much of my LBM as possible, but do have BF% milestones. Every 5% down to 20% and every 2.5% from that point on I'll stop and reassess to determine where I should be. For my wedding, given the time frame...I just want to weigh, well, less.

I was actually directed to this site by a post from another forum. The "Is It Really Worth It" blog really spoke to me personally. I'm a fairly big closet nerd. I'm a bit of a movie buff, and I play copious amounts of video games (I just broke 12 months clean from WoW. I was at 2 years but had a relapse a while back; I do think the 12 steps are working...I don't think I'll ever kick my need for an FPS fix though) when I have the time.

I currently practice Isshin Ryu Karate and lift weights. I'm on the StrongLifts 5x5 track, which is a pretty close match to the strength work my coaches had me doing back in school. My numbers there are positively atrocious compared to where I was at, but I suppose years and years of atrophy will do that to a person. For 5 sets of 5, my squat is at 255, bench at 175, and deadlift at 295. I'd like to get my squat to 1.5X BW, my bench to 1X BW, and my deadlift to 2X BW. I'm getting there slowly, as per the schedule, and so far I haven't stalled yet (except for an injury a month ago which I don't count). For martial arts I'd just like to get my calisthenics to where I can outlast most people on most exercises. Right now I'm REALLY good at a few select exercises, and crap in others. I aim to even out some.

For my diet I'm a huge fan of BodyRecomposition.com. I moderated his 'Rapid Fatloss Handbook' a bit so that I could maintain it more long term. Around the May time frame if my weight-loss isn't where it needs to be, I plan to start following the program more strictly. After the wedding I'll likely go back to what I'm doing now, which is giving pretty steady results.

Exercise has never really been the problem. I love it to death (my birthday present to myself last year was a 10 mile run followed by 6 hours of karate and 2 hours of grappling). My problems have been around food and booze, which I can easily take to excess, or with letting my busy schedule take away from my ability to exercise as much as I'd like. I'm hoping to find folks similar to me.

[Book]

Hey there... Yep, there's a few like us around here. I'm 6'1 255 (down from 275), but have always been active. It's not even been the kinds of food I've eaten, it's been more the sheer volume of food I can pack away, the legacy of a heavy sports career when I was younger. I'm also a father of five, so it's not always easy to find times to train.

Still, it sounds like you've made a great start, and hopefully you can continue the journey around here. Sure hope to see you around.

[So Late So Soon]

Glad you found the site and welcome!

[Morrigainz]

Welcome! This is a great place and I think the people here give awesome support. Woo go us!

I hear ya on the food thing...well, for me it's mostly beer.

[Fink]

You're not alone on the food and beer, everyday is a punishing workout for my will power. Welcome, I'm sure you'll find the support and advice you need

[Rosie]

Welcome! Ditto on the beer thing too. It was probably the main reason I stopped being able to fit into my cute dresses!

[katscratch]

Welcome!!!!

[jrhunter]

Welcome, Rebel! It really sounds like you've got a sustainable plan! Just stick to the stats and improving and you'll get where you need to go. I always thought it was funny how I could zone out and efficiently grind an RPG character for hours, but when it came to my real life I could hardly obtain the patience or discipline to improve and max out my stats. There is never really a reason to ever use booze or some foods in a game like Fable, for instance; and I don't know many that ever use it. When it comes to real life, despite knowing there are detriments to ones stats, people still drink and eat various things. I don't necessarily say we should stop, as I drink myself; but I just always thought that was funny among us gamers.